Louis Farrakhan Rants About Jewish Control During Sunday Sermon.(FFA). Nation Of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan delivered an anti-Semitic tirade during his sermon in Chicago’s Mosque Maryam last Sunday, claiming that Jews control the media and the world, according to a report by the Anti-Defamation League;Farrakhan: Go back to the Secret Relationship [Between Black and Jews] …White people are wise and the wisest of white people are the members of the Jewish community…They are wise and they are the guards of their own world. Are you mad with me for saying that? [Audience: "No sir!"] You can’t go nowhere in their world without paying obeisance to them.How many of you are lawyers? Only have one in the house? No wonder we go to jail so much, brother! But at the top of the law profession, who are the top in lawAudience: Jews.Farrakhan: Sorry I didn’t hear you.Audience: Jews!Farrakhan: Any doctors in the house? Ain’t got no doctors? Oh there’s one way in the back. At the top of the medical profession, the top in that are members of the Jewish community. Anybody in media? Who’s the top in that field?Audience: Jews.Farrakhan: Anybody a rapper in the house? There’s rappers. You can rap, ain’t nothing wrong with that, but at the top of that are those that control the industry. Any of you have Hollywood ambitions, Broadway ambitions… Who’s the top of that?Audience: Jews.Farrakhan: Same people! They’re masters in business. Well I’m not a businessman I’m a banker. Well who’s the master of the bankers?Audience: Jews.Farrakhan: TALK TO ME!Audience: Jews!Farrakhan: You don’t discredit them because they’re masters, you discredit them by the way they use their mastery.Audience: [applause]Farrakhan: Now, I close.Farakhan has been implicated in the past for anti-Jewish an anti-Israel statements, including his 1984 sermon about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, when he referred to Judaism as a “gutter” and “dirty” religion. Though Farakhan denied the statement in his letter to the Wall Street Journal that year, tape archives demonstrate that Farakhan indeed uttered those words.Read the full story here.

Khamenei Has Blood on His Hands, Is Lying about Nukes, Says Former Revolutionary Guards General.(Guardian).A former general of Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guards has accused the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, of having blood on his hands over the brutal crackdown on the opposition, and described government claims that its nuclear programme is entirely peaceful as a “sheer lie.”
In a letter to prominent opposition activist Mohammad Nourizad (website in Farsi), the former officer gives a rare glimpse of political dissent within the ranks of the elite force in charge of the nuclear programme and Khamenei’s personal security.
Identified only by his initials, the general says that he and a number of his colleagues were threatened with execution for disloyalty and then - after a series of secret courts-martial - dismissed “because we refused to participate in the betrayals and the crimes committed by our seniors”.
“I’m writing this letter to you to tell our people that there are still many generals and members of staff within the Revolutionary Guards who are opposed to these crimes and are waiting to join the people,” the letter reads.
Speaking to the Guardian by telephone from Tehran, Nourizad - who published the general’s letter on his website - said he was convinced of its authenticity because it was handed to him in person by the former general.
“This is one of the many such letters written by senior figures within the Sepah [Revolutionary Guards] that I have received. I have refrained from publishing many of them because I was worried they might pose security problems,” said Nourizad.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards are an elite force separate from the Iranian army and under the direct command of the country’s supreme leader. The corps was founded to protect Iran’s revolutionary values, but has become increasingly involved in politics and business.
In the aftermath of the fiercely disputed 2009 elections, several dozen Revolutionary Guards generals, as well as senior figures in the informal voluntary Basij militia, were replaced for refusing to use violence against unarmed protesters.
According to the general, the order to open fire on the protesters came from the top. “[In 2009,] the leader [Khamenei] asked Rahim Safavi [a former chief commander of the guards] whether he would be prepared to run over people with tanks if they took to streets to revolt. He said yes and the leader gave him the order,” he writes.
“They shut our mouth for years by saying that the leader wanted this or that … But we could no more keep it shut after the post-election bloodshed. This was the point many spoke out or simply refused to comply.”
According to the general, Khamenei was also personally involved in the restrictions imposed on the opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, who is still under house arrest with little access to the outside world. “How can a supreme leader with blood on his hands be close to God?,” he asks.
The general also accuses Khamenei of lying about Iran’s nuclear programme, which is now subject to an international dispute, the general casts doubt on what the regime officials claim to be “peaceful” activities, describing them as the country’s “nuclear gamble”.
“The inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency are fooling themselves if they believe that the nuclear facilities on and under the ground are only for peaceful purposes,” he writes. “The leader said [in a fatwa] that Iran has only peaceful intentions with its nuclear activities. This is a sheer lie.”
The general accuses the Revolutionary Guards of corruption and involvement in smuggling and the illegal transfer of foreign currency. “Is it not ridiculous? The presidential office established a unit to combat smuggling but at the same time, senior guards generals were doing exactly the same thing in the southern islands of Qeshm, Hormuz and Abu Musa,” he writes. “We tolerated the guards’ economic activities and involvement in smuggling with the excuse of raising funds for its revolutionary ideas.”Read the full story here.

Turkey - Obama's BFF Erdogan moves to limit press freedom.(HD). Members of the ruling Justice and Development Party have proposed a series of changes to the Constitution Conciliation Council that may gravely limit press freedom in Turkey, daily Hürriyet reported.
The proposed changes will allow the government to limit press freedom in a variety of scenarios that include cases of "national security" and "public morals."
Public order, prevention of crime and ensuring the objectivity of judicial authorities may also be used by the government to interfere with the press, the daily said. Publications containing "child abuse, sexual content and violence" will also be open to state limitation.
The abolition of laws exempting publication houses from providing financial securities and permits before opening were also proposed by AKP deputies.
The AKP proposal also foresees the ending of laws regarding the "protection of tools of press," allowing police forces to confiscate all materials from locations as diverse as publication houses and press vehicles.Hmmmmm......How long before he follows his BFF's 'example'?Read the full story here.

U.N. says massacre ‘extension’ of Syria air force operation; Russia calls for an inquiry into new massacre in Syria.(AA).U.N. observers in Syria described an attack on a village in the Hama region, where about 220 people were killed, as “an extension of the SAAF (Syrian Arab Air Force) operation,” said a report from the U.N. mission, obtained by Reuters on Friday, as Russia called for an inquiry into the latest massacre in Syria as death toll mounted.
As many as 70 people have been killed on Friday by Syrian forces across the country, including 21 in Idlib, Al Arabiya reported citing General revolution Commission.
“The situation in Hama province continues to be highly volatile and unpredictable,” the so-called “flash report” from the observer mission said. “SAAF forces continue to target populated urban areas north of Hama City in a large scale.”
Opposition sources said about 220 people, mostly civilians were killed in the village of al-Tremsa when it was bombarded by helicopter gunships and tanks then stormed by militiamen who slaughtered some families on Thursday.
“The operation in al-Tremsa is assessed as an extension of the SAAF operation in Khan Sheikhoun to Souran over the recent number of days,” said the two-page report by the U.N. mission in Syria, known as UNSMIS.
There were no independent accounts of the number of dead or how they were killed. If scores of civilians were killed, this could be the worst atrocity in 16 months of fighting between rebels and the forces of President Bashar al-Assad.
A Syrian military spokesman, meanwhile, said that the Syrian army killed “many terrorists” but no civilians in al-Tremsa village in the central province of Hama.
“Army units carried out a special operation” on Thursday, the spokesperson said, “targeting armed terrorist groups and their leadership hide-outs.”
The operation “eradicated the terrorist groups’ lairs and killed many terrorists,” the spokesman said, adding that “the terrorists were dealt with, while there were no civilian victims.”
According to the UNSMIS report, a patrol of unarmed U.N. military observers could only get within about 4 miles (6 kilometers) of al-Tremsa and were stopped from getting closer by SAAF commanders because of “military operations.”
The patrol observed the situation from a few different locations around Tremsa for about eight hours during which time it heard more than 100 explosions, sporadic small arms and heavy machine gun fire and saw white and black smoke plumes.
It also saw an Mi-8 and two Mi-24 helicopters flying overhead and witnessed one of the Mi-24 helicopters firing air to ground rockets.
“The patrol received several calls from local contacts claiming 50 people had been killed and 150 wounded within Tremsa,” the report said. “Attempts (by the patrol) to contact the local military commander during this period were unsuccessful.”
Russia on Friday said it would urge U.N. special envoy Kofi Annan to work more closely with the Syrian opposition at talks in Moscow next week, and called for an inquiry into a massacre in Syria.
The Foreign Ministry said the massacre, in which opposition sources said about 220 people had been killed, served the interests of people who wanted a sectarian conflict in Syria, but did not directly apportion blame.
Russia has repeatedly defended Assad at the U.N. Security Council since the start of the uprising in Syria 16 months ago, but was urged by the Syrian opposition at talks in Moscow this week to do more to end the violence.
Annan’s spokesman in Geneva said the envoy expected to meet President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Monday, and the Russian ministry source told RIA news agency that Annan would discuss the crisis with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
“To be honest, we do not see our partners being as ready (as Russia) to work with the opposition, and Kofi Annan is the main mediator of this process,” Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov was quoted as saying by Interfax.
“Unfortunately, so far we don't see any practical results from his and his team's contact with the opposition,” he said.
It was not clear what message Russia wanted Annan to convey to the opposition, with which Moscow has failed to reach agreement on how to resolve the crisis, notably because the opposition insists Assad's departure must be a precondition of political dialogue in Syria.
The Syrian opposition leaders left Moscow this week saying Russia’'s policies were helping prolong the bloodshed and Moscow has said both sides in the conflict must work to end it.
The Russian Foreign Ministry's statement gave no direct indication of who it blamed for the massacre in a village in the rebellious Hama region of Syria.
“We have no doubt that this wrongdoing serves the interests of those powers that are not seeking peace but persistently seek to sow the seeds of inter-confessional and civilian conflict on Syrian soil,” it said.
Russia has sent what foreign diplomats call conflicting signals that could point to a shift, but as yet no big change, in its stance as it seeks to ensure it keeps a foothold in the pivotal Middle East country if its ally Assad goes.Read the full story here.

Iranian Press TV has a different take on the Tremseh massacre --- it was committed by gangswho seek to tarnish the image of the Assad government, more on this here.

Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Calls on Turkey, Jordan to Close Borders to Terrorists.(Fars)."Turkey and Jordan should close their borders to terrorists and avoid damaging their reputation for the Zionist regime's aspirations," General Firouzabadi said Friday.
The General further reiterated support for the peace initiative presented by the UN-Arab League Special Envoy, Kofi Annan, on Syria, and said, "The international community has accepted the plan of the UN envoy, Kofi Annan, and the Muslim neighboring states (of Syria) which have a hand in terrorist affairs in Syria are required to give up support for terrorists."
He also stated that the Syrian nation has shown it is determined to defend both its sovereignty and continued resistance against the Zionist regime.
"It is clear that revival of peace and tranquility in Syria will serve the interests of the Syrian people and will produce new opportunities for Islamic countries and the Muslim Ummah (community)," the General said.
Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011 with organized attacks by well-armed gangs against Syrian police forces and border guards being reported across the country.
Hundreds of people, including members of the security forces, have been killed, when some protest rallies turned into armed clashes.
The government blames outlaws, saboteurs, and armed terrorist groups for the deaths, stressing that the unrest is being orchestrated from abroad.
In October, calm was eventually restored in the Arab state after President Assad started a reform initiative in the country, but Israel, the US and its Arab allies are seeking hard to bring the country into chaos through any possible means. Tel Aviv, Washington and some Arab capitals have been staging various plots in the hope of increasing unrests in Syria.
The US daily, Washington Post, reported in May that the Syrian rebels and terrorist groups battling the President Bashar al-Assad's government have received significantly more and better weapons in recent weeks, a crime paid for by the Persian Gulf Arab states and coordinated by the United States.
The newspaper, quoting opposition activists and US and foreign officials, reported that Obama administration officials emphasized the administration has expanded contacts with opposition military forces to provide the Persian Gulf nations with assessments of rebel credibility and command-and-control infrastructure.
According to the report, material is being stockpiled in Damascus, in Idlib near the Turkish border and in Zabadani on the Lebanese border.
Opposition activists who three months ago said the rebels were running out of ammunition said in May that the flow of weapons - most bought on the black market in neighboring countries or from elements of the Syrian military in the past - has significantly increased after a decision by Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other Persian Gulf states to provide millions of dollars in funding each month.Read the full story here.

"Sanctions that Benefit....Who?" - Japan Set to Load First Iran Crude with Sovereign Insurance.(Fars).Japan will load its first Iranian crude cargo backed by sovereign guarantees, a move showing that the EU and US sanctions against Iran have failed to convince the country's major crude buyers to stop business with Iran.
JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corp. (5020) and Idemitsu Kosan Co. (5019) will load about 1.7 million barrels of Iranian crude on the very large crude carrier Ryuho Maru on about July 20 at Kharg Island, the country's biggest oil-export terminal, according to three officials from the refiners and Japan's trade ministry, Bloomberg reported. The tanker, owned by Iino Kaiun Kaisha Ltd. (9119), will be backed by the Japanese state, they said, asking not to be identified because the information is confidential.
Japan's Iranian crude imports will fall in July because refiners were unsure whether the sovereign insurance would be available when they planned July-loading schedules last month, the officials said. Japan's parliament passed a bill on June 20 to provide $7.6 billion of guarantees to tanker owners that carry Iranian oil.
The program gives ship owners sovereign guarantees to replace reinsurance that Japan's P and I club previously obtained under a claims-sharing agreement with the London-based International Group of P and I Clubs, according to a statement from the transport ministry. The coverage protects against third- party liability and environmental accidents.
South Korea is also considering resumption of Iranian crude imports after Tehran offered to ship and insure the oil to get around the impact of EU sanctions, two Korean government sources said on Friday.
Among other key Asian buyers of Iranian crude, India has given state-run insurers approval to provide cover to its ships transporting Iran's oil, while China, the top buyer of Iranian crude, has said that it would not heed the western sanctions and would continued imports from Iran.Hmmmm......I hate to say it but so far it's the European economy who's hardest hit.........While Turkey makes the biggest gains.Read the full story here.

SOPA Being Reintroduced Through Creation of Copyright Commissars.(AP).By Joe Wright.The battle rages on between lovers of the free Internet and a big government
hellbent on controlling the only semblance of a fair and balanced media that
still exists.

An onslaught of bills have been introduced worldwide which
seek to criminalize the fundamental way that information is freely shared. Among
the most comprehensive:

ACTA - Recently struck down by the
European Parliament in a 478
to 39 vote after street protests swept across Europe. However, ACTA has
already been signed in the United States. ACTA allows accusers of copyright
infringement to bypass judicial review. Lack of “due process” makes these bills
and ACTA unconstitutional and violates the Magna Carta, a charter signed in 1215
on which most Western law is based, including the US Constitution. (Source)

PIPA
- A massive protest in January generated over 7
million petition signatures, which caused the bill to be postponed. Some of
the most popular websites on the planet blackened their pages to protest the
PROTECT IP Act, (S. 968),
which threatens free access to information on the Web by allowing accusers to
shut down an entire website - even shared platforms like Twitter, WordPress and
YouTube, because of a single copyright violation. (Source)

OPEN
- Darrell Issa (CA-R) and 24 co-sponsors introduced H.R.
3782. The bill claims to only target foreign websites for digital trade
violations, while keeping Americans free to surf and post, but the bill's wording was wide open to pursue
American sites. (Source)

CISPA
- The grandaddy of cyber legislation, ushering in fascism to the Internet by
giving full control to the Department of Defense and all of its satellite
federal agencies and private contractors to surveil and wage cyberwar. (Source)

Resistance
has been strong, but Big Brother remains motivated to move in by stealth if
necessary, as evidenced by a new related bill that seeks to sneak a previously
defeated piece of SOPA past an unsuspecting public.

The
Electronic Frontier Foundation has been at the
forefront of keeping the public informed about the myriad ways that our
(s)elected representatives are attempting to usher in tyranny to the free market
of ideas known as the World Wide Web.As Adi Kamdar writes:

Even after millions rallied against the passage of
SOPA/PIPA, the House is still quietly trying to pass a related bill that would
give the entertainment industry more permanent, government-funded spokespeople.
The Intellectual Property, Competition, and the Internet Subcommittee of the
House Judiciary Committee recently held a hearing on Lamar Smith's IP Attaché
Act (PDF), a
bill that increases intellectual property policing around the world. The Act
would create an Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property, as
well as broaden the use of IP attachés in particular U.S. embassies. (The
attachés were notably present in Sec. 205 of
SOPA—which was also introduced by Smith.) [Source]

Kamdar rightly states that this empowers Hollywood with
"traveling foot soldiers" that become content commissars by virtue of being
"IP Attachés." - or world ambassadors for
Internet censorship. In so doing, it creates yet another pyramid of control and
intimidation that seeks to corral content through the ever-present threat of
copyright violations.

So far, private copyright trolls have been
repeatedly defeated (here
and here
for a couple recent examples), as judge after judge has ruled their lawsuits to
be completely without merit.However, with this new piece of legislation, the
federal government very well could create its own copyright troll goon
squad at the behest of establishment lobbyists and their easily
bought-and-paid-for congressmen.

Please continue following any mention of
Internet regulation no matter how slick the veneer, as the final nail in the
coffin of free expression and sharing of information contrary to the
establishment media could arrive at any time, cloaked in ways we might not yet
suspect.

It is clear that despite overwhelming public outcry, there are
those in Congress such as Lamar Smith who clearly serve a different master.Read the full story here.

Fox 2 News Headlines
Dearborn Heights, Mich. (Fox) -
A Dearborn Heights psychiatrist is facing a laundry list of charges after several women come forward with accusations of sexual assault.Holly Beth Hord says that Dr. Abdullahi Abdulkarmin Mohamed would not give her prescriptions until after she had sex with him. Now, she is suing the doctor for $10 million in damages.
Several other women have come forward with similar stories. Mohamed has been charged in two different cases, totaling 15 counts of criminal sexual conduct and one count of assault.Read the full story here.

Olympic security: British army reinforcements called in to fill G4S shortfall.(Guardian).The military has been asked to provide up to 3,500 extra troops to guard the London Olympics, amid concerns that private security firm G4S will be unable to deliver the number of staff it promised.
Ministers have been forced into the last-ditch move only a fortnight before the Games because they are concerned that G4S cannot guarantee it will be able to supply the 13,700 guards it was contracted to deliver.
One Whitehall insider accused the Home Office of "sticking its head in the sand" over the need to deploy extra military personnel.
"This has been an accident waiting to happen. The Home Office has waited to make a decision on this because G4S has been saying it is all in hand. But we've run out of time."
The home secretary, Theresa May, has been pressing G4S to provide assurances over its commitments, but patience in Whitehall ran out last weekend and talks began over whether the Ministry of Defence could fill the gap.
"The army will provide an insurance policy," said a Whitehall source. The armed forces are already providing up to 13,500 personnel for the Games – split between the venues and back-up for police. Under the contingency plans, this could reach 16,500 – 7,000 more than are being deployed in Afghanistan.
The MoD has been seeking guarantees that any soldiers drafted in at the last moment will be properly compensated for cancelled leave.
A defence source said that the army units that may be required had been identified and put at a state of shortened readiness. They will be deployed incrementally, as needed, and logistical and training hubs were already being set up to co-ordinate them.
Another source on the London 2012 board has previously described the security operation as a "blind spot" in Locog's planning for the Games.
It will spark fresh questions over the extent to which the Games will appear overly reliant on the armed forces – last week it was confirmed that surface-to-air missiles would be located at six sites around the capital, despite protests from residents and some MPs.
The navy's biggest warship, HMS Ocean, will be stationed in the Thames and four Typhoon fighter jets will be on standby at RAF Northolt in Middlesex. Armed Puma helicopters will also be on standby.Hmmmm...........You know that the 'Illuminati conspiracy' freaks will jump on this. Read the full story here.

Video - India's shame: 30 men seen molesting girl, just four arrested.(NDTV).Guwahati: A big hoarding in Guwahati has on it photographs and names of six men. They have been identified as being part of a mob of about 30 men who brutally molested a young girl outside a pub in Assam's capital.The incident is captured in heartrending detail on a video that went viral on the Internet. For 30 minutes on Monday night the mob snatched at, kicked, pulled, beat and stripped the Class XI student. It took the police that half an hour to turn up and take her to her parents. In the three days since the incident, only four of her assailants have been arrested.In Assam, the rate of crime against women is a shocking 36.9 per lakh, almost double the national average at 18.9. The young girl's sickening molestation on Monday could well have been another number added to that statistic had it not been for the video shot by the night reporter of a local TV channel, Newslive, which was uploaded on YouTube and went viral. The arrests were made on Thursday, after that happened. The warning on the hoarding rings true The faces of many of the assailants are clearly seen on camera. On the video, as the mob of around 30 men chase, beat and strip the girl, it is clear no one nearby attempted to help her. Close-ups of the attackers' faces show no remorse, many wear a look of satisfaction. Some even smile as they look directly into the camera, almost performing for it. At one point, some of the attackers attempt to force the girl to look at the camera, chanting sinisterly. The four men arrested are among only 11 people the police has identified so far. Assam's police chief Jayanta Choudhary says it will take them some time to track the rest. "There are 12 people that we want of which we have identified 11 and of these 11, we have got four. The others, we have got the names and hopefully, we will get them in the next few days. The whole idea is not just to arrest but to chargesheet them so that with this kind of evidence conviction then is almost certain. When you make random arrests of a large number of people, then the chances of a case falling through are much more. They are evading arrest...they are not in their home. So, we will have to find them, track them down and we will get them in a couple of days," he said. The girl's mother filed a written complaint and the four men arrested have been booked under Section 341 (wrongful restraint), Section 143 (unlawful assembly), Section 294 (obscene act), Section 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), Section 354 (assault or criminal force on a woman with the intent to outrage her modesty) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Mr Choudhary said the victim, along with another girl and three boys had gone to the city pub when they got into an altercation and were asked to leave. The fight, now physical, continued outside the pub near an auto-rickshaw stand, he said, and some bystanders tried to separate them but later the situation "got out of control", the police chief said, adding, "there are always some low-lives hanging around and when they see a girl, they always try to take advantage of the situation. Now, it's not like they were predators waiting to pounce on any woman that came in. Initially, they tried to separate the boy and the girl who were fighting but later it went out of control."Terming it a "shameful act", National Commission for Women Chairperson Mamta Sharma demanded life term for the culprits and alleged that the police was "shying away from responsibility."Read and see (Video's) the full story here.

MI6 chief Sir John Sawers: 'We foiled Iranian nuclear weapons bid'.But, But...they're 'HARAM'....Khamenei said so.(Telegraph).
Sir John Sawers said that covert operations by British spies had prevented the Iranians from developing nuclear weapons as early as 2008.
However, the MI6 chief said it was now likely they would achieve their goal by 2014, making a military strike from the US and Israel increasingly likely.
Sir John gave a secret briefing to the Cabinet in March about Iran’s growing military threat but this is the first time his views on the issue have been made public.
It is extremely rare for the head of MI6 to disclose details of operations by the intelligence service.
Sir John made the remarks at a meeting of around 100 senior civil servants in London last week in only his second public speech since he was appointed to the post in 2009.
Speaking at the Civil Service Live event in Olympia he said that Iran was now “two years away” from becoming a “nuclear weapons state”.
He said that “when that moment came” Israel or the United States would have to decide whether to launch a military strike.
“The Iranians are determinedly going down a path to master all aspects of nuclear weapons; all the technologies they need,” he said. “It’s equally clear that Israel and the United States would face huge dangers if Iran were to become a nuclear weapon state.”
Sir John said that without MI6’s work dealing with the threat, “you’d have Iran as a nuclear weapons state in 2008 rather than still being two years away in 2012.”Hmmmm........"A Fatwa a day takes nuclear arms closer a day"?Read the full story here

"FLEXIBILITY" -Russia continues ICBM upgrades.(Janes).By David C Isby.Russia's 54th Guards Missile Division, headquartered at Teykovo in Ivanovo oblast, is to be re-equipped with its final batch of new Yars mobile intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) by the end of August, according to Major General Sergei Siver, Commander of Russia's 27th Guards Missile Army.
In a 7 June interview on Rossiya-24 television, Maj Siver also said the 60th Missile Division, headquartered at Tatishchevo, Saratov oblast, is completing the re-equipment of its sixth missile regiment with the Topol-M ICBM.
Earlier, Strategic Rocket Forces (SRF) spokesman Colonel Vadim Koval had announced that the 29th Missile Division, headquartered at Irkutsk, was preparing to start conversion from its Topol (SS-25 'Sickle) missiles to the Yars.Hmmmm........."CHANGED".Read the full story here.

Debate over circumcision ruling rages in Germany.(AA).A German court decision branding the Muslim and Jewish rite of circumcising baby boys a criminal act has left disbelief, outrage and serious legal questions in its wake.
A cartoon in Sunday’s edition of Berlin daily Tagesspiegel cast the dispute over the ruling published last month as a high-stakes struggle between religious beliefs and European secular values.
Sitting on a cloud, God reads about the Cologne court’s judgment then telephones Allah and Jehovah, saying: “We’ve got to talk -- the atheists are getting more and more full of themselves.”
The ruling said circumcision of male infants on religious grounds was tantamount to grievous bodily harm, a criminal act.
It concerned a case brought against a doctor who had circumcised a four-year-old Muslim boy in line with his parents’ wishes.
When, a few days after the operation, the boy suffered heavy bleeding, prosecutors charged the doctor.
The court later acquitted the doctor himself of causing harm but judged that “the right of a child to keep his physical integrity trumps the rights of parents” to observe their religion, potentially setting a precedent.
European Muslim and Jewish groups have banded together to criticize the ruling, with the support of top Christian clerics, and called on German MPs to pass legislation protecting the practice.
A recent poll on the issue shows that 56 percent of Germans agree with the court -- among them Georg Ehrmann, president of German children’s charity Deutsche Kinderhilfe.
“Religious communities should share in the consensus that a minor should have the right to an undamaged childhood,” he said.
But 35 percent of people believe the ruling is wrong.
This clash of cultures, known as “Kulturkampf” in German, has filled column inches in recent days.
And German diplomats admit the decision has been “disastrous” for the image of the country abroad, amid international outcry over the ruling.
“The Cologne ruling is very troubling to us since circumcision is one of the rites Jews died for over generations,” Israeli Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi Yona Metzger said.
“I am very concerned we will revert back to 500-600 years ago and conduct circumcisions in secret. I hope the issue will be resolved in Germany through legislation.”
Israeli Public Diplomacy Minister Yuli Edelstein told AFP that “from the Jewish perspective, a circumcision ban is the most severe prohibition possible,” compared to other bans such as on ritual slaughter.
“If we let this pass (in Germany), there will be no way to stop it from spreading to other European states.”
Edelstein, however, noted the “positive potential” to the ruling as it applies to Muslims and Jews alike.
“It could happen that joint action on this could do something to bring the two communities closer, and possibly prevent anti-Semitism from extreme Islamist elements.”
Edelstein mentioned two debates held in Israel’s parliament over the issue, one joined by the German envoy to Israel, and recent meetings Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin held in Germany with members of the Bundestag lower house.
“I have the impression the German side understands it is not appropriate for Germany to prohibit circumcisions,” Edelstein said.
Early on German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle tried to calm the storm, writing on his Twitter account: “We have to be clear: religious traditions are protected in Germany.”
Religious groups say they they feel excluded from German society.
“Every country in the world” respects the right to circumcision, said Dieter Graumann, president of the Central Council of Jews, calling the ruling “scandalous.”
Read the full story here.

Russia rejects new U.N. draft resolution on Syria; U.S. sees Assad losing grip.(AA).The major powers started talks Thursday on a U.N. Security Council resolution on Syria with Russia declaring a “red line” against sanctions, as U.S. that the defection of a Syrian ambassador was a further sign that the Syrian regime was losing his grip on power.
As many as 68 people have been killed by the fire of Syrian forces across the country, Al Arabiya reported citing Syrian activists.
Russia and the Western nations on the 15-member council have drafted rival resolutions on Syria.
Britain, the United States, France and Germany have demanded sanctions against President Assad under Chapter VII of the U.N. Charter. Russia is firmly against.
Moscow said on Thursday it will not support a draft U.N. Security Council resolution on Syria that would allow the council to authorize sanctions ranging from diplomatic and economic sanctions to military intervention.
“If they decide to do it (put the resolution to a vote on Thursday), knowing it would be unacceptable to us, we will not let it pass,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov told Interfax news agency.
Gatilov added he did not expect there to be a vote as soon as Thursday: “The process of consultations is only just starting and should take some time,” he said.
“As a whole, their resolution is unbalanced and foresees that obligations should only be fulfilled by the Syrian government. Practically nothing is said about the obligations of the opposition,” he said.He objected that the resolution links an extension of the mandate of the U.N. mission in Syria -- which Russia supports -- with the introduction of sanctions if the Syrian government does not fulfill certain conditions.
“We will try to move to a constructive text for a possible draft resolution which can reflect the true situation,” Gatilov said.
“Anything can be negotiated but we do not negotiate this. This is a red line,” Russia’s deputy U.N. ambassador Igor Pankin told reporters earlier at the Security Council after the first talks among key envoys.
Russia and China have previously twice used their powers as permanent members of the Security Council to veto resolutions which hinted at sanctions.
Meanwhile, the White House said on Thursday that the defection of a Syrian ambassador showed that desperation was growing within President Assad’s government and was a further sign that he was losing his grip on power.
“Those around him, both in his inner circle and more broadly in the military and governmental leadership are beginning to assess Assad's chances of remaining in power ... and making the choice that they will abandon him in favor of the Syrian people,” White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters.
Nawaf al-Fares, who was Syria’s ambassador to Iraq, posted a video statement on Facebook that called on the army to “turn your guns on the criminals” of the government. Carney said he could not confirm reports that Fares was now in Qatar.Hmmmmm........Qatar.....could he be the guest of Muslim Brotherhood kingpin Sheik Yusuf al-Qaradawi?Read the full story here.

Another Domino lining up - Jordan’s Muslim Brotherhood to boycott early elections.(AA).Jordan’s powerful Muslim Brotherhood decided on Thursday to boycott early elections expected later this year because of a “lack of reform,” in a move that is likely throw the country into political crisis.
“The Muslim Brotherhood’s shura (advisory) council voted today (Thursday) to boycott parliamentary elections this year,” Zaki Bani Rsheid, deputy leader of the movement, told AFP.
“Forty-nine out of 52 members of the council voted on the decision, which comes as a result of a lack of political reform in the country.”
Bani Rsheid said “the regime has failed to meet reform demands by Jordanians, including the Islamist movement.”
According to the constitution, elections should be organized every four years, but Jordan held early polls in 2010 after King Abdullah II dissolved parliament.
The Islamists boycotted those elections in protest at constituency boundaries, saying they over-represented loyalist rural areas at the expense of urban areas seen as Islamist strongholds.
They have repeatedly demanded sweeping changes that would lead to a parliamentary system in which the premier would be elected rather than named by the king.Hmmmm......Who needs enemies with the Muslim brotherhood around?Read the full story here.

Several Iranian-Canadians are crying foul after TD Bank Group abruptly closed their accounts.(Yahoo).Several Iranian-Canadians are crying foul after the TD Bank abruptly closed their accounts with little explanation other than to say it had to comply with federal economic sanctions against Iran.
TD began sending letters to some of its clients in May informing them it would no longer be offering them banking services so as to abide with changes made last November to the Special Economic Measures (Iran) Regulations, which prohibit banks from providing financial services that benefit Iran or anyone in Iran.
"A recent review has identified you as a person TD is restricted from providing financial services to, from, or for the benefit of under these new regulations," TD wrote in one letter to an affected customer, Soudeh Ghassemi of Toronto.
"As a result, we are informing you that TD will no longer continue to support your current accounts and/or services." The letter informs Ghassemi that she could apply to the Department of Foreign Affairs for a special permit to carry out transactions with Iran.
Ghassemi, a Canadian citizen, told CBC's The Current she was "shocked" when she received that letter, saying she does not send any money to Iran.
She said her father also received a similar letter from the bank with regards to his mortgage and his personal line of credit.
Later, she and her father received two separate letters in which they were informed the joint business account they held would be closed.The Iranian Canadian Congress held a fact-finding meeting this weekend in Toronto to talk about the issue, which drew between 60 and 70 people.
Kaveh Shahrooz, the vice-chair of the congress, said there were a lot of "very, very distressing" stories recounted at the meeting.
"
A lot of people [said] 'We've been loyal customers of TD for a number of years and we are in compliance with all the laws as far as we know. And yet unfortunately, with virtually no notice, TD has decided to close our accounts,'" said Shahrooz, a lawyer by trade.
"It's … given no explanation as to why this has happened and made some cryptic reference to the sanctions. But anytime they've sought some further explanation, they've been stonewalled and treated very, very badly."
He couldn't say exactly how many people have been affected. He said at this time it appears TD is the only bank sending out these letters.TD bank said in an email that "decisions to end customer relationships are not undertaken lightly and we took additional steps to reach out by phone and by registered mail to those who might be impacted by the regulations in question, in order to verify their information."
"In cases where we did not hear back from a customer to confirm their information, we were required meet the regulations and so we ended the relationship."
The Department of Foreign Affairs, meanwhile, said in an email that the application of the new rules to any individual account "must be determined on a case-by-case basis."Read the full story here.

"Mama Shabab" - Former Torontonian a Den Mother to Young Somali Extremists.(TS).
By Michelle Shephard.NAIROBI—A Canadian woman at the centre of Somalia’s Al Qaeda is known among the intelligence agencies that track her and the foreign militants who praise her simply as “Mama Shabab.”It is an honorific title for former Toronto resident Fadumo Jama, who intelligence agencies allege is the den mother of al Shabab who runs a safe house for Western fighters recruited into the militant Islamic organization.While she moves frequently, using forged passports from African countries, it is believed she has operated a home in the Somali town of Merca for at least four years and has supported American and European recruits in the weeks before their suicide bombing missions.
Jama is a well-known figure to intelligence agencies in the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and Somalia, yet her name does not appear in any public documents and she has not been charged.
But a Toronto Star investigation based on interviews with security, intelligence and law enforcement officials, in addition to leaders in the Somali diaspora here and abroad, reveal a portrait of a female leader vital to the organization.Her role facilitating Western recruits exemplifies the increasing importance of women to the Shabab — although her position of authority is rare, as most females are recruited only as wives for the fighters or suicide bombers.
Canadian Security Intelligence Service director Richard Fadden told a Senate committee earlier this year that this was an emerging trend.
“(There is) increasing potential for more women in Canada to become radicalized as injunctions against female participation in violent jihad have begun to disappear from extremist websites,” he said. But with their valuable passports and their seeming willingness to die fighting, the Western recruits have intelligence agencies worried — and they keep Mama Shabab on the radar.
“She is very important, as everybody went to her safe house,” one security official, who has collected reports on Jama for years, told the Star on the condition he not be identified. “At least nine of the Americans, including Jehad Mostafa, went through there.”
Mostafa is the 6’1” California university student originally from Wisconsin, indicted in the U.S. for his involvement with the Shabab.Read the full story here.

What does it mean that Mohamed Morsi is president of Egypt? Speaking for the American consensus, Bret Stephens recently argued in the Wall Street Journal against the consolation that the Muslim Brotherhood's victory "is merely symbolic, since the army still has the guns." He concluded that "Egypt is lost."
We shall argue to the contrary: the election was not just symbolic but illusory, and Egypt's future remains very much in play.
Morsi is not the most powerful politician in Egypt or the commander in chief. Arguably, he does not even run the Muslim Brotherhood. His job is undefined. The military could brush him aside. For the first time since 1954, Egypt's president is a secondary figure, assigned the functionary role long associated with its prime ministers.

.

A picture of Morsi and Tantawi reveals the terms of their relationship: Not only is Tantawi sitting on the right side, where prior Egyptian presidents (Nasser, Sadat, Mubarak) ritualistically sat when hosting a visitor, but their meeting took place in the Ministry of Defense, not in the presidential palace, which protocol would normally require.

Mohamed Tantawi is the real ruler of Egypt. Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), Field Marshall, and Minister of Defense, he serves not only as the commander in chief but also as effective head of all three Egypt's governmental branches. Tantawi is an autocrat with near-absolute powers. As chief representative of the military junta that has been ruling Egypt since February 2011, his mission is to extend the junta's rule indefinitely into the future, thereby assuring officers their perquisites and privileges.
SCAF exploits the Muslim Brotherhood and other proxies as its civilian fronts, a role they are happy to play, by permitting Islamists to garner an outsized percentage of the parliamentary vote, then to win the presidency. During the suspicious week-long delay before the presidential votes were announced, SCAF met with the Muslim Brotherhood's real leader, Khairat El-Shater, and reached a deal whereby Morsi became president but SCAF still governs.
To understand SCAF's power, note three actions it took in conjunction with the presidential elections:Imposition of martial law: On June 13, the Justice Minister authorized the General Intelligence Services and military police to arrest civilians at will and incarcerate them for six months if they express any form of written or artist opposition against SCAF, the police, or their Islamist proxies, while protesting these same institutions on the streets can lead to life in prison.Dissolution of parliament: On the grounds that the parliamentary elections of Nov. 2011-Jan. 2012, breached the constitution (which prohibits party candidates to run for "individual" seats), the Supreme Administrative Court ruled them invalid in February 2012. On June 14, the SCAF-controlled Supreme Constitutional Court confirmed this decision and dissolved parliament. In retrospect, it appears that SCAF, which oversaw those elections, intentionally allowed Islamists to break the law so as to have an excuse at will to dissolve Egypt's fraudulent parliament.Establish the premise for martial law: SCAF issued a constitutional declaration on June 17 that formalized its intention to prolong the military's 60-year-old rule. Article 53/2 states that, in the face of internal unrest, "the president can issue a decision to direct the armed forces – with the approval of SCAF - to maintain security and defend public properties." The basis for a complete military takeover could hardly be more baldly asserted; Morsi's plan to reconvene the dissolved parliament could justify such an action.

Morsi took the oath of office before the Supreme Constitutional Court and not before the parliament. Score another symbolic victory for SCAF.

If foreigners are largely blind to SCAF's power play, Egyptians widely recognize this reality. The liberal April 6 Youth Movement called its recent actions "a soft coup d'état." Journalist Zainab Abu El-Magd bitterly noted that "political coups these days are done through 'fair elections'." Ziad Abdel Tawab of the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies calls the dissolution of parliament a "blatant military coup." One Egyptian newspaper called Morsi "president without powers," while an Islamist compared him to Queen Elizabeth II of Britain.
SCAF is struggling to perpetuate the status quo, whereby the officer corps enjoys the good life and the rest of the country serves its needs. Making Morsi the apparent president of Egypt cleverly saddles him with responsibility as the country's economic problems worsen. But SCAF's tricks run great dangers and could backfire, for a population fed up with tyranny and backwardness finds itself with more of the same. The next explosion could make the uprising of early 2011 look tame.
To help avoid that next explosion, Western governments should adopt a policy of pressuring SCAF gradually to permit increasing genuine political participation.

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Turkey: Oldest 5Th Century Christian monastery at risk, Muslims and MP of Erdogan's party file lawsuit against them.(AM).ANKARA - The Mongolians failed to destroy it 700 years ago despite the massacre of 40 friars and 400 Christians. Yet the existence of the oldest functioning Christian monastery in the world, the fifth century Mor Gabriel Monastery in the Tur Abdin plane (the mountain of God's servants) near the Turkish-Syrian border, is at risk after a ruling by Turkey's highest appeals court in Ankara.
Founded in 397 by the monks Samuel and Simon, Mor Gabriel in eastern Anatolia has been the heart of the Orthodox Syrian community for centuries. Syriacs hail from a branch of Middle Eastern Christianity and are one of the oldest communities in Turkey.Today the monastery is inhabited by Mor Timotheus Samuel Aktash, 3 monks, 11 nuns and 35 boys who are learning the monastery's teachings, the ancient Aramaic language spoken by Jesus and the Orthodox Syriac tradition.
Although the monastery is situated in an area at the centre of conflicts between Kurdish separatist with the armed PKK group and the Turkish army, Mor Gabriel welcomes 20,000 pilgrims every year.
The Syriac Orthodox community - estimated to be 2.5 million across the world - is under the authority of the Patriarch of Antioch and considers the monastery a 'second Jerusalem'.
The monastery's reputation 1500 years ago was such that Roman Emperors Arcadius, Theodosius and Onorio built new buildings around it and enriched it with art and mosaics. But in the past 150 years Mor Gabriel has gone through a decline after the massacres of Christians by nationalists at the end of the 19th century - 3,000 Christians were burnt to death in Edessa's Cathedral in 1895 - and clashes between Turks and Kurds in the area during World War I.
Today only 3,500 people are left and the 'second Jerusalem' is in danger. The heads of the three neighbouring Muslim villages, Kurds with the Belebi tribe, filed a lawsuit against the monastery years ago with the support of an MP member of the Islamic Justice and Development Party (AKP) of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Under the lawsuit, the Syriacs are accused of practicing 'anti-Turkish activities' by providing an education to young people, including non Christians, and of illegally occupying land which belongs to the neighbouring villages.
After a number of contrasting verdicts, the highest appeals court in Ankara, which is close to the government, has ruled in favour of the village chiefs and said the land which has been part of the monastery for 1,600 years is not its property, Turkish newspaper Zaman reported.
The lawsuit also claimed that the sanctuary was built over the ruins of a mosque, forgetting that Mohammed was born 170 years after its foundation.Hmmmmm......"The War on Christianity"......It's real and ongoing.Read the full story here.

U.S. Olympians Told To Ditch The Cowboy Hats In Favor Of . . . 'Hugo Shavez Look'.(NYP) — Our Olympic heroes will be headed off to London this month — looking as if they’re decked out for a Hamptons lawn party.
Ralph Lauren yesterday unveiled the preppy parade uniforms that Team USA members will wear at the July 27 opening ceremony, stirring an uproar over pricey duds fit for a regatta.
The outfits include blue blazers, cream-colored trousers, white skirts — and berets.
“2012 US Olympic team is wearing berets. Really? America?” tweeted John Lee Rudnicki, a Los Angeles entertainment lawyer. “How many people in the US have you ever seen wear a beret? Five?”
“What the France?” tweeted Greg “Hollea” Rachal, a political activist and former Jacksonville, Fla., City Council candidate.
The company said the outfits embody “the spirit of American athleticism and sportsmanship.”Hmmmm.........."CHANGE"..........Can't wait to see the First Lady applaud these guys in London.Read the story here.

State Dep’t Not to Designate Boko Haram a Terrorist Organization - Then Calls it ‘Terrorist Organization’.(CNSNews).Testifying on Capitol Hill this week, the State Department’s top official for Africa defended the decision not to designate Boko Haram as a “foreign terrorist organization” (FTO) – but then used the term “terrorist organization” in reference to the Nigerian Islamist group.A Nigerian Christian leader criticized the move, saying failure to designate Boko Haram as an FTO emboldened the group and signaled that its targeting of Christians was acceptable.
The administration on June 21 listed three Boko Haram leaders as “specially designated global terrorists” (SDGTs) but stopped short to designating the group as an FTO under U.S. law, a step some Republican lawmakers have long been urging.
Individuals and entities listed as SDGTs have any assets they may hold in the U.S. frozen, and Americans are prohibited from engaging in transactions with them.
Appearing before the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Africa, Global Health and Human Rights on Tuesday, Johnnie Carson, assistant secretary of state in the Bureau of African Affairs, spoke about the decision.
“Before we prescribe actions, it is important that we understand what Boko Haram is and what it is not,” he said in his prepared remarks. “The truth is that our understanding is limited at best.
“Boko Haram is composed of at least two organizations, a larger organization focused primarily on discrediting the Nigerian government, and a smaller more dangerous group that is increasingly sophisticated and increasingly lethal.”

Then Carson called the group a “terrorist organization.”
“Boko Haram’s emergence as a terrorist organization in Nigeria predates the current government, and irrespective whether there is a Christian leader or a Muslim leader in the country, as long as the social, economic problems exist in the North to the extent that they do, there will be a reaction which may in fact – as this one does – take on political consequences,” he said.Smith disagreed with Carson’s assessment, saying that Boko Haram had “at its core a radical Islamic position.”“I believe that at its core this is an attempt to impose shari’a law and to promote a radicalized version,” he said.
Another witness at the hearing, Christian Association of Nigeria president Ayo Oritsejafor, made it clear that he views Boko Haram as a terrorist organization with a clear mission.
“To an outside observer it may appear as though Boko Haram is not a monolithic group, that it is fragmented and disorganized, but I am here today to give you the Nigerian perspective,” Oritsejafor said. “Since its creation, the Boko Haram network has never hidden its agenda or intentions.“Boko Haram has openly stated that they reject the Nigerian state and its constitution and seek to imposeshari’a law,” he continued. “To this end, Boko Haram has waged a systematic campaign of terror and violence.”“They seek an end to Western influence and a removal of the Christian presence in Nigeria,” he added.
Oritsejafor, a Pentecostal pastor, said by not designating Boko Haram as an FTO, the U.S. was sending “a very clear message” to the Nigerian government and the rest of the world that the killing of innocent Christians as well as Muslims who reject the group’s ideology is acceptable.
“It is hypocritical for the United States and the international community to say that they believe in freedom and equality, when their actions do not support those who are being persecuted,” Oritsejafor said.Hmmmm........Obama: "“We will hold sacred the beliefs held sacred by others.”Read the full story here.

Related Yesterday's post: Christians “will not know peace again” if they do not accept Islam, said a statement from the Boko Haram sect.

Russian Ship The MV Alaed Carrying Helicopters and air defense weaponsSails Again for Syria.(Heritage).The MV Alaed has once again left its Russian port and is presumably
heading back to Syria. The cargo ship was last in the news when it recently had
its insurance revoked after U.K. Intervention for carrying Russian helicopters to Syria despite the EU arms
embargo on the country.
So what has changed? On her last voyage, before she was forced to turn around
in the North Sea, the Alaed was flying a Curacao flag. Now, she has
conveniently replaced her Curacao flag with a Russian flag. It is thought that
this will get the Alaed around the insurance problems and EU arms
embargo on her last journey a few weeks ago.
The Alaed seems to be making good progress and will soon be back in
the North Sea, where she was when she was forced to return to Russia. According
to the BarentsObserver
website:

“Alaed” has all Wednesday been following a straight course through the
Barents Sea in the pre-fixed westbound ship separation lane and passed outside
North Cape around 16.00 Norwegian time. She will likely sail into the Norwegian
Sea later Wednesday evening and presumably sail south along Norway’s northern
coast during the next 48 hours towards the North Sea.

U.S. calls on Iran to release Christian pastor Yousef Nadarkhani, condemns ‘rights abuses’ of ethnic minorities.(AA).The U.S. State Department on Wednesday called on Iranian authorities to release Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani who is facing execution for converting from Islam to Christianity.
Nadarkhani has now spent 1,000 days in prison. Islamic sharia law allows for apostasy sentences to be overturned if the convicted person “repents” and renounces his conversion, which Nadarkhani has so far refused to do.
His death sentence was upheld by an appeals court in September 2010, but overturned by Tehran’s Supreme Court, which sent the case back to the lower court in his hometown of Rasht in Northern Iran.
The vice governor of the Gilan province, who is responsible for security and political affairs, said that Nadarkhani’s religious beliefs are not at issue, but that the pastor is “a Zionist, a traitor and has committed security crimes.”
In a statement, the State Department also condemned what it described as the “human rights abuses” of ethnic and religious minorities in Iran.
It said the U.S. was troubled by reports of the execution of four members of Iran’s Ahwazi Arab community, whose sentences were carried out “with little due process.”
In mid-June, Iran executed Abdul Rahman Heidari, Taha Heidari , Jamshid Heidari and Ali Sharifi, all members of the country’s Arab minority, after they were detained in 2011 amid unrest in the Khuzestan province and convicted of “Moharebeh” (enmity against God) for allegedly killing a law enforcement official.The executions were widely condemned by human rights groups who said the men, all members of the same family, had not received a fair trial.
The Iranian constitution formally provides for the fair treatment of ethnic minorities, including their rights to use their language, but in practice ethnic groups, such as Azeris, Arabs, Kurds and Balochs are reportedly discriminated against, especially in political rights and freedom of expression.
“The U.S. statement follows similar condemnation by the EU, Britain and Germany as well as international human right organization and is the culmination of a vigorous campaign launched by Ahwazi activists,” explained Dr. Karim Abdian, executive director of the Washington-based Ahwaz Human Right Organization to Al Arabiya.Read the full story here.

Russian Navy warships will be sent to to defend Russian merchant shipping in the event of a blockade due to situation in Syria.(RN).Russian Navy warships will be sent to defend Russian merchant shipping in the event of a blockade due to the situation in Syria, the deputy head of Russia's military technical cooperation agency said at the Farnborough air show in Britain on Wednesday.
"The fleet will be sent on task to guarantee the safety of our ships, to prevent anyone interfering with them in the event of a blockade. I remind you, there are no limits," Vyacheslav Dzirkaln said, when asked about the navy's actions in the event of a blockade.
The Defense Ministry said on Tuesday a Russian naval task force was on its way to carry out naval exercises in the Atlantic, Mediterranean and Black Seas.
The task force comprises warships from Russia’s Northern, Baltic and Black Sea Fleets, a ministry official told RIA Novosti.
The Russian cargo ship Alaed, which was carrying a cargo of renovated Mil Mi-25 helicopter gunships to Syria, was forced to stop on June 18 and return to Russia after its insurance cover was withdrawn by a British insurer.
Dzirkaln said Russia has not embargoed its existing arms contracts with Syria and will fulfill existing contracts for air defense systems and helicopters, in clarification of a statement made on Monday which indicated no new arms deliveries would be made by Moscow to Damascus.
Syrian opposition expressed concern on Wednesday over the departure of Russian warships to the Mediterranean as the presence of the Russian Navy near the Syrian coast could encourage the Assad regime to use even more violence against protesters.
“We have discussed this problem with Russia,” senior member of Istanbul-based opposition Syrian National Council (SNC) Burham Ghalioun told a news conference at RIA Novosti. “We are concerned with the fact that these maneuvers coincide with the escalation of the situation [in Syria].”Read the full story here.

In Memory Of Alexander Munch (1948 - 2012).

Israeli Six-Day War Vet.

Previous Blogs here and here."
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the right to tell people what they do not want to hear." George Orwell.

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Irshad Manji.

"Muslim refusenik" is a phrase Manji uses to identify herself as someone who refuses to "join an army of robots in the name of God.".

Ayaan Hirsi Ali .

Wafa Sultan .

"Telling the truth after proper investigation is the height of courage." - Wafa Sultan.

Hagarism - The Making of the Islamic World.

Pakistani Women's Human Rights Organisation

Persian2English -

Stop Child Executions

I Stand With Israel !

Koran 7:7, where G-d Himself bequeaths the Land of Israel to the Jews, as a nation who thought themselves weak, and blesses them with goodness.Source

Shariah: The Threat to America

This book is based on the statements of the world's leading Shariah authorities and Shariah academic scholars.

The Abuse of Holocaust Memory.

Myths of Islam

"Religion does not require women to veil their hands, feet and faces or enjoin any special type of veil. Tribal custom must not impose itself on the free will of the individual."

Amanullah Khan - King of Afghanistan (1919-1929).

The Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, head of Al-Azhar, the highest seat of learning in the Sunni world.“The niqab is a tradition and has nothing to do with Islam,” said Sheikh Tantawi, vowing to ban it in Al-Azhar schools.After the girl complied he insisted she should not wear it any more.“I tell you again that the niqab has nothing to do with Islam and it is only a mere custom. I understand the religion better than you and your parents.” The Grand Imam of Al-Azhar imam vowed to issue a ban against the face-veil in all schools linked to Al-Azhar.“Source

The Jewish Holocaust.

The Armenian Holocaust.

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